Peach picking a popular family outing

Todd McKinney of Richmond keeps a firm grip on his 2-year-old daughter Madeline as she stands on a ladder to reach for peaches on a tree at Chiles Peach Orchard in Crozet on Sunday.(Photo: Mike Tripp/The News Leader)

CROZET – With highs in the low-80s, a light breeze and overcast skies, Sunday was the perfect day for families to flock to Chiles Peach Orchard to pick their own produce, eat some ice cream and spend time together.

The long rows of peach-bearing trees were abuzz with little kids, parents pushing wagons and couples enjoying the smell of the fruit, the fresh air and the mountain views.

Branches hung low with the weight of the plump peaches and the ground was slippery with the fruit that has already fallen from the trees.

A bitterly cold winter and a cool spring have meant a late peach harvest, said Cynthia Chiles, whose family has owned the orchard since the first peach trees were planted in 1912.

But it hasn't had any effect on the bounty of the 150-acre orchard. Chiles said they should be picking through Labor Day.

"The weekends are very busy," she said, as evidenced Sunday by the packed parking lot. "And even the weekdays while kids are on summer vacation."

Chiles isn't the only "U-pick" produce farm in the area — there are options on either side of Afton Mountain — but it's one of the busiest.

"It's a great family activity," Chiles said. "Folks get to see where there food comes from, they get to see the harvest. It's an unplugged activity that every family member can enjoy."

Jonathan Blank from Charlottesville took turns lifting his two sets of twin girls, ages 3½ and 7, up to the tree limbs so they could pluck ripe peaches before dropping them into a plastic bag.

"We come every year, multiple times a year," Blank said. "This is our first time this year."

While the girls have only been coming the past few years, Blank has began coming to the orchard in the early 1990s for school trips.

He said the family loves the fresh fruit — Chiles has apples, plums, cherries, pumpkins and more depending on the time of the year.

"It's absolutely beautiful here and the people are incredibly nice and giving," he said.

Also admiring the views and the mild weather Sunday were Donna and Dave Miller from Cooperstown, New York.

They were visiting their son, Josh, daughter-in-law Nicole, and granddaughter Sierra, 7, of Charlottesville.

"I need some peaches to can," Donna Miller said, while taking pictures of her son lifting Sierra to the tree branches. "This is great."

It was the family's first time at Chiles and they were busy filling up bags and a wagon full of peaches.